VATICAN CITY  Like John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI made a visit to Turkey the main foreign policy initiative of his second year as leader of the world's Catholics. And like John Paul did, Benedict is making Brazil a priority. He plans a visit to the largest Catholic nation in May.

Beyond such similarities, the pontiffs' leadership styles diverge.

John Paul preferred grand overtures and worked the crowds using his personal appeal, while Benedict wields his intellect.

These differences may have more to do with the changing times than the individuals, says Gilberto Mazzoleni, an author and religious history professor at Rome's Sapienza University. "I think we are seeing more than a difference between two men," he says. "We are seeing a difference between two eras."

Even the crowds that gather to see the pope are different. Many of the pilgrims who gather in St. Peter's Square expressed affection for John Paul and respect for the intellect of his successor.

"People here loved and adored John Paul, but they have a profound respect for Benedict," said Alfred Marshall, 38, a teacher from Philadelphia who has been living in Rome for three years.

"I think the faithful came to listen to Pope John Paul," said Lorenzo Cagliari, 50, a deacon in Ostia, a seaside town 20 miles from Rome. "And they come to learn from Pope Benedict."

Though some of the differences are tied to the times, Benedict also may be approaching his papacy with a greater sense of urgency. He took over the Holy See as a somewhat frail man of 78. John Paul was 58 when he was elected pope.

"Benedict has a sense that there is a need for realpolitik at the Vatican," says Sandro Magister, a veteran Vatican observer with the Italian newsweekly L'Espresso. "In the context of the world today, the church feels it is called upon to act."

Church issues

There is little difference between Benedict and John Paul when it comes to church doctrine. For example, there is no space between them on the need to maintain a celibate clergy, though they handled the issue differently.

Renegade Archbishop Emanuel Milingo of Zambia tested both on that issue. In 2001, Milingo married a Korean woman in a group ceremony of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. He also threatened to set up a rival branch of the Catholic Church that would let priests marry. John Paul's response was typical of his style: Milingo was called to the Vatican and forgiven.

Milingo bucked the Vatican again in September, when he ordained four married American men as bishops — an act that meant automatic excommunication. In keeping with his more academic, policy-oriented approach, Benedict called a summit of 20 church leaders to reiterate the church stance on celibacy.

"Benedict focused on the issue, the problem and not the specific situation," Magister says.

During his trip to Turkey in 1979, John Paul called on Christians and Muslims to "seek ties of friendship with other believers who invoke the name of a single God." Benedict's recent four-day visit to Turkey had a similar theme.

John Paul underlined his point with a typically grand gesture: He kissed the Quran. During his visit, Benedict stuck to a program that included discussions with political and religious leaders, including Ali Bardakoglu, the country's director of religious affairs and one of the pope's biggest critics after Benedict's comments in September suggested a link between Islam and violence.

Although Benedict, like John Paul, visited sites holy to Muslims and Christians, his trip became one of reconciliation and discussion among faiths rather than one of symbolism.

Political approach

Benedict's more academic style was evident in September, when he stirred controversy by quoting a Byzantine emperor who called the prophet Mohammed's teachings "evil and inhuman." The Vatican said the speech was intended as a lecture on violence driven by religion.

Benedict sought to assuage the anger that swept across the Muslim world, saying the quote did not reflect his opinion, but he did not apologize. He said his speech was meant to start a dialogue to heal the growing breach between Christianity and Islam. His papacy is likely to continue to deal with that rift and other such divisions in global society.

"All through the Christian world, we see that politics is becoming more secular," Mazzoleni says. "And so it stands to reason that the church could seek to compensate by becoming more political."

Over the first 19 months of Benedict's papacy, the Vatican has waded into debates on issues such as women wearing the veil in Christian society (Benedict says they should follow local, secular laws). The Holy See has criticized the Chinese ordination of Catholic bishops not approved by the Vatican, sexual abuse in the church and human trafficking. It also has called for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Benedict "was selected in part because he is the right man for these times," professor Mazzoleni says. "For what it is worth, I think future popes will be more like Pope Benedict than like Pope John Paul."